1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to the field of last-mile connections between network and user locations.
2. Background
Broadband communication networks provide a variety of network content, including data content from the Internet, voice content using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and video content such as Video on Demand (VoD) to network users. A majority of broadband connections between a network and the users are either in the form of a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connection in which customers access the network over ordinary copper telephone lines, or via cable broadband service connection from a cable service provider. Wireless connections are also used for providing connections between a user and a network.
Within a typical network, multiple routes are used for sending network content from one end of the network to another end so that if one route becomes inoperative, the content can still reach its destination over an alternate route. However, the connection from the customer to the network is typically provided over a single link, such as a DSL link or a cable link. In such cases, the customer loses the connection to the network if that link experiences a failure and the customer service is restored once the problem with the link is restored. No redundancy is typically available for such a link. Additionally, the customer link is typically bandwidth limited. The demand for higher bandwidth by customer is increasing, and the demand increases the single customer link may not be able to provide the desired bandwidth. Thus, there is a need to provide a more reliable connection between the network and customers and also to provide greater bandwidth over existing links.